Roosevelt's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps

Disaster Relief

Civilian Conservation Corps--Ferron--Camp F-11 Company 959--Crew Working for Forest Service

<h2>Reforestation and Nature Conservation Programs</h2>
CCC reforestation projects took place in state parks, national parks, and private land forests. The US Forest Service employed skilled woodsmen alongside the camp enrollees to assist with forestry programs. This had the benefit of providing essential guidance to young men who had not been out in nature for an extended time before, in addition to providing employment to local workers from the surrounding region.
The CCC also worked on nature conservation and wildlife protection programs. Leo Young worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps on the Bear River Bird Refuge, and commented in a 1972 oral history: “They’ve done a lot of good on the refuge. They hauled rock and the initial graveling of the dikes was done by the CCC boys. They hauled gravel on the dikes and smoothed the beaches. They also helped in gathering sick ducks, fencing, nesting surveys, and projects like that.”
One example of pest control as a conservation activity was the Mormon Cricket Project on Blue Mountain. The CCC built trenches to trap and exterminate Mormon crickets, flightless insects that can cause damage to crops and rangeland if they break out in large swarms.
Some of the programs that the CCC developed look counterproductive when compared against current environmental knowledge. Swamps were drained as part of mosquito control projects, which had negative effects on the wildlife of many areas. Soil erosion in the southern states was fought by planting the invasive plant kudzu as ground cover. Kudzu is popularly known as the “vine that ate the south.”

Civilian Conservation Corps reforestation, view 2 [graphic]

Nature Conservation and Recreation

History of the CCC

Enrollees

Camps for African Americans and Native Americans

Legacy

CCC Camp 3 & 83 Carlsbad Project, New Mexico: Photo of a large number of enrollees working in lining a canal.

Water control was the central task of many CCC projects. The need to prevent further soil erosion inspired many terracing projects to redirect the flow of water. CCC men received practical experience with engineering and surveying as part of this work. Some camps were under the direction of the Bureau of Reclamation, and their work involved dam building and other much-needed improvements to drainage systems, canals, water storage projects, and reservoirs.
Flood control was another important part of this work. Prior to the water-related projects undertaken by the CCC, there were fewer recreational facilities created by Bureau of Reclamation projects. Many of the same structures built to encourage tourism in parks, like picnic tables, stoves, boating facilities, and hiking areas near reservoirs and lakes, encouraged recreation in these areas.

Civilian Conservation Corps--Castle Dale--Camp DG-27 Company 529--Rockwork Dam

CCC Camp BR-61 North Platte Project, Bayard, Nebraska: Photo of enrollees, Simons and Rhode, breaking concrete at Siphon No. 5.

Roosevelt's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps

Water Projects

Water Projects